⁷ But Er, Judah’s firstborn, was wicked in the Lord’s sight;^(A) so the Lord put him to death.^(B)

⁸ Then Judah said to Onan, “Sleep with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to raise up offspring for your brother.”^{(C) 9} But Onan knew that the child would not be his; so whenever he slept with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from providing offspring for his brother. ¹⁰ What he did was wicked in the Lord’s sight; so the Lord put him to death also.^(D)

¹¹ Judah then said to his daughter-in-law^(E) Tamar,^(F) “Live as a widow in your father’s household^(G) until my son Shelah^(H) grows up.”^(I) For he thought, “He may die too, just like his brothers.” So Tamar went to live in her father’s household.

⁶ This is what the Lord commands for Zelophehad’s daughters: They may marry anyone they please as long as they marry within their father’s tribal clan. ⁷ No inheritance^(A) in Israel is to pass from one tribe to another, for every Israelite shall keep the tribal inheritance of their ancestors. ⁸ Every daughter who inherits land in any Israelite tribe must marry someone in her father’s tribal clan,^(B) so that every Israelite will possess the inheritance of their ancestors. ⁹ No inheritance may pass from one tribe to another, for each Israelite tribe is to keep the land it inherits.”

⁵ If brothers are living together and one of them dies without a son, his widow must not marry outside the family. Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her.^{(A) 6} The first son she bears shall carry on the name of the dead brother so that his name will not be blotted out from Israel.^(B)

⁷ However, if a man does not want to marry his brother’s wife,^(C) she shall go to the elders at the town gate^(D) and say, “My husband’s brother refuses to carry on his brother’s name in Israel. He will not fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to me.”^{(E) 8} Then the elders of his town shall summon him and talk to him. If he persists in saying, “I do not want to marry her,” ⁹ his brother’s widow shall go up to him in the presence of the elders, take off one of his sandals,^(F) spit in his face^(G) and say, “This is what is done to the man who will not build up his brother’s family line.” ¹⁰ That man’s line shall be known in Israel as The Family of the Unsandaled.

Ruth and Boaz at the Threshing Floor

3 One day Ruth’s mother-in-law Naomi^(A) said to her, “My daughter, I must find a home^[a](B) for you, where you will be well provided for. ² Now Boaz, with whose women you have worked, is a relative^(C) of ours. Tonight he will be winnowing barley on the threshing floor.^{(D) 3} Wash,^(E) put on perfume,^(F) and get dressed in your best clothes.^(G) Then go down to the threshing floor, but don’t let him know you are there until he has finished eating and drinking.^{(H) 4} When he lies down, note the place where he is lying. Then go and uncover his feet and lie down. He will tell you what to do.”

⁵ “I will do whatever you say,”^(I) Ruth answered. ⁶ So she went down to the threshing floor^(J) and did everything her mother-in-law told her to do.

⁷ When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits,^(K) he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile.^(L) Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down. ⁸ In the middle of the night something startled the man; he turned—and there was a woman lying at his feet!

⁷ (Now in earlier times in Israel, for the redemption^(A) and transfer of property to become final, one party took off his sandal^(B) and gave it to the other. This was the method of legalizing transactions^(C) in Israel.)^(D)

⁸ So the guardian-redeemer said to Boaz, “Buy it yourself.” And he removed his sandal.^(E)

⁹ Then Boaz announced to the elders and all the people, “Today you are witnesses^(F) that I have bought from Naomi all the property of Elimelek, Kilion and Mahlon. ¹⁰ I have also acquired Ruth the Moabite,^(G) Mahlon’s widow, as my wife,^(H) in order to maintain the name of the dead with his property, so that his name will not disappear from among his family or from his hometown.^(I) Today you are witnesses!^(J)”

¹¹ Then the elders and all the people at the gate^(K) said, “We are witnesses.^(L) May the Lord make the woman who is coming into your home like Rachel and Leah,^(M) who together built up the family of Israel. May you have standing in Ephrathah^(N) and be famous in Bethlehem.^{(O) 12} Through the offspring the Lord gives you by this young woman, may your family be like that of Perez,^(P) whom Tamar^(Q) bore to Judah.”

Naomi Gains a Son

¹³ So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When he made love to her, the Lord enabled her to conceive,^(R) and she gave birth to a son.^{(S) 14} The women^(T) said to Naomi: “Praise be to the Lord,^(U) who this day has not left you without a guardian-redeemer.^(V) May he become famous throughout Israel! ¹⁵ He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law,^(W) who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons,^(X) has given him birth.”

¹⁶ Then Naomi took the child in her arms and cared for him. ¹⁷ The women living there said, “Naomi has a son!” And they named him Obed. He was the father of Jesse,^(Y) the father of David.^(Z)

The Genealogy of David^(AA)

¹⁸ This, then, is the family line of Perez^(AB):